Golf club head attachment



Feb. 13, 1962 I. POLSKY ETAL GOLF CLUB HEAD ATTACHMENT Filed July 15, 1960 wry .N

W W fly Unitsd States Patent Filed July 15, 1960, Ser. No. 43,110 Claims. (Cl. 273-194) This invention relates to golf clubs, in general, and in particular to attachment for a putter which will serve to train a golfer in the proper manner of addressing the ball.

In putting, there are many factors to be considered, which are generally applicable to players of any skill or experience. Among these are the proper height and orientation of the putter head at the moment of impact, and also the location of the point of impact along the length of the head. It is with this latter problem that the present invention is concerned.

If a golfer, in putting practice, uses an unmodified head, his putting may be off in repeated attempts, but due to the said several factors alluded to above, it will not be readily apparent as to the degree to which any one of them may have been responsible. It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a telltale device which will immediately and unambiguously signal any substantial departure from the proper point of impact on the putter head.

Briefly, this end is obtained by an attachment for the putter head comprising a clamp-on frame carrying a pair of bumpers which are located on respective sides of the acceptable area of impact and which operate to move the ball so pronouncedly off course when the impact is outside the zone of tolerance that there is no mistaking the nature of the putting error.

For a more detailed description of the invention reference is made to the following specification, as illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the training unit to be attached to the putter head, shown inverted from the positions in FIGURES 2 to 4,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the lower end of a putter, showing the unit attached to the putter head,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 2, as seen from the left of that figure, and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of FIGURE 2, showing two positions of impact with a golf ball.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown a putter 1 with head 2, which may be of any conventional form. The training unit comprises a U-form frame of aluminum or other suitable material, having legs 3 and 4, with outer ends bent through a right angle to provide legs 5 and 6 which are firmly embedded in respective, bumper elements 7 and 8, of rubbery material. With the bent tabs, the frame bears a distinct resemblance to a horseshoe.

At the bight portion of the U frame, a tab 9 bent trans versely to the plane of legs 3 and 4, in the same direction as the ends 5 and 6 provides an anchorage for a thumb screw 10 with head 11. To provide suflicient depth for proper threading, the tab 9 has a reinforcing plate 12 with a threaded, tubular boss 14, secured to the tab as by a pair of rivets 15.

As seen in FIGURES 2 to 4, the unit is clamped on the putter head with the arms 3 and 4 straddling the under side thereof, the clamp screw engaging the back of the 3,021,141 Patented Feb. 13, 1962 putter head, and bumpers 7 and 8 drawn into tight engagement with the front face of the head.

In FIGURE 4, a golf ball 16 is shown at impact position, the point of tangency being located at the ideal point along the club for optimum performance. With this ideal point known within reasonable tolerance, the training unit is clamped in place such that the point lies midway of the bumpers 7 and 8. If the ball is impacted reasonably close to this point, the bumpers will not take part in the action, and it can be assumed that any miscarriage of the putt is not due to gross error in the impact point. However, if the impact point is badly missed, the nature of the error is unmistakably signalled by initial impact of the ball with one or the other of the bumpers, as shown for instance in broken lines in FIGURE 4. The signalling is manifested in at least three ways: (1) by the sound of the impact, which is different on the bumpers than on the metal putter head, (2) by the feel of the impact, and (3) by the aggravated angular error in the direction of progress of the ball.

It is thus seen that there is provided a signalling device which is rapid and positive in response, and which will quickly and materially aid the golfer in arriving at a proper handling of its putts wherein he can repeatedly hit the proper region of impact, ultimatelyobviating the need for the attachment.

The device may be used in actual play, under proper circumstances, and it may be installed as a permanent feature of the putter head.

While a certain, preferred embodiment has been shown and described, various modifications including substitution of equivalent elements will occur to those skilled in the art, and the invention should not, therefore, be deemed as limited except as shall appear from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A training attachment for golf club heads comprising a frame of U-form having transverse tabs at the ends of the arms of the frame and a transverse tab at the bight section of the U on the same side of the frame as the tabs on the arms, a bumper carried on each of the tabs at the ends of the arms, and a thumb screw carried by the tab at the bight of the U-frame said bumpers being spaced apart to provide a clearance in excess of the diameter of a standard golf ball.

2. A training attachment for golf club heads comprising a frame having a central, planiform portion, a pair of transversely bent tabs on one side of said central portion, a buffer element received on each of said tabs, a transversely bent tab on the other side of said central portion, extending in the same direction as said pair of tabs, and a clamp screw carried by said tab on said other side of the central portion said buffer elements being spaced apart to provide a clearance in excess of the diameter of a standard golf ball.

3. A training attachment for golf club heads comprising a frame, a pair of bumpers carried on one side of said frame and spaced apart a distance in excess of the diameter of a golf ball, and clamp means on the other side of said frame and spaced from said buffers a distance in excess of the thickness of a golf club head said clamp means and said bumpers bearing a generally mutually parallel relation, and extending from the same side of said frame.

4. A training attachment for a golf club head comprising a frame of horseshoe form, with leg tabs and a bight tab, resilient bumpers carried on said leg tabs, and clamp means carried by said bight tab, all tabs extending from the same side of said frame, said leg tabs being generally parallel to said bight tab, and said bumpers being spaced apart to provide a clearance in excess of the diameter of a standard golf ball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kenney May 20, 1930 Sametz Dec. 12, 1933 Costello Oct. 20, 1936 Sloan Dec. 9, 1952 

